Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common metabolic disorders in humans today. Nearly 26 million people, roughly 8.3% of the population, have been diagnosed with the disease in the United States alone. Type I diabetes typically appears in childhood or early adulthood. Type II diabetes, consisting of both insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent types, typically appears later in life as the result of improper diet, lack of exercise, or a combination thereof. Both forms of diabetes alter the body's ability to convert blood glucose into energy, leading to elevated levels of blood glucose. Chronically high levels of blood glucose may increase the risk for long-term vascular complications such as coronary disease, heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney failure, blindness, erectile dysfunction, neuropathy (loss of sensation, especially in the feet), gangrene, and gastroparesis (slowed emptying of the stomach). Improper blood glucose control also increases the risk of short-term complications after surgery such as poor wound healing.
Diabetes mellitus is a kind of metabolic disease that is brought about by either the insufficient production of insulin or the inability of the body to respond to the insulin formed within the system. Insulin is produced by the pancreas and is the principal hormone that regulates uptake of glucose from the blood into all tissue. The insulin receptor is a transmembrane receptor that is activated by insulin, IGF-I, and IGF-II and belongs to the large class of tyrosine kinase receptors. The main activity of activation of the insulin receptor is inducing glucose uptake. For this reason “insulin insensitivity,” or a decrease in insulin receptor signaling, leads to Type II diabetes mellitus. In Type II diabetes mellitus the cells are unable to take in glucose, and the result is hyperglycemia (an increase in circulating glucose). Insulin deficiencies, the insensitivity of its receptors, or a combination of both play a central role in all forms of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus Type I is caused by the decrease of β-cells found in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. β-cells primarily produce insulin and accordingly, their loss will lead to large insulin deficiencies in the body. Type II diabetes mellitus is generally characterized by the body's resistance to insulin. This is primarily attributed to the loss of, or diminished function of, certain insulin receptors in the tissues that are supposed to mediate the entrance of insulin into the body's cells.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease which cannot be cured. Prior to this invention, management of the disease focused on keeping blood sugar levels as close to normal (“euglycemia”) as possible, without causing hypoglycemia. This could only be accomplished with diet, exercise, and use of appropriate medications (insulin in the case of Type I diabetes, and oral medications, as well as possibly insulin, in Type II diabetes).
Synthetic insulin is readily available to patients, but the high cost and inconvenience of administration drives many patients away. It is not uncommon for patients to be charged several hundred dollars per month for their insulin prescriptions. Likewise, the proper regulation of diabetes requires patients to constantly monitor their blood glucose levels throughout the day. To successfully monitor blood glucose levels patients are forced to retrieve and test small blood samples. Because monitoring the disease is so difficult and expensive, diabetes remains a serious disease responsible for many deaths. Even with the proper dosage of insulin, patients can still suffer eye damage, delayed wound healing, and other serious consequences.
The conventional methods of treating diabetes are incredibly inconvenient and costly. Thus, there remains a need for diabetes treatments.